Home

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Guillen Embargo

Unfortunately for Ozzie Guillen, the Castro he seemed to be praising in his Time Magazine article wasn't Starlin. Guillen was suspended by the Miami Marlins for 5 games after raising the ire in the Miami community and probably other places as well for complimenting Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Fine cigars aside, the Cuban dictator has reigned over his people for generations.

Guillen referenced that his 'admiration' stemmed more from Castro's ability to remain in power with everyone essentially hating him. Now, that's easier to do as a dictator than say manager of the Miami Marlins, but here's the thing Ozzie Guillen is a loudmouth. Everyone knows this, and he is known for it. I can see where his comments are stemming from. Partially in jest that, hey here's a guy everyone dislikes, dictators are getting overthrown all over the world; but this old guy whose smoked more cigars than the entirety of Mahogany combined, has failing health, and let's face it...if I said to you that we're overthrowing a dictator who would you choose? Egypt? Iran? The guy has the odds against him.

The biggest goof of the whole situation is that Guillen made these comments as the skipper of the most pro-Latino baseball team ever, the Miami Marlins. Everything the Marlins rebranded themselves as was pro Miami, pro the culture, pro the people there. For Guillen to reference a man so many people in that community have not only ill feelings towards, but probably directly or tangentially experienced what living under Castro was the extra fire to overcook everyone's ropa vieja.

Seemingly without intent Guillen mixed together sports, politics, and culture into one innocuous set of statements that sent his new employers scrambling for damage control. One of the new faces of the Miami franchise had taken a step towards insulting the large fan base the Marlins were hoping to bring into their flashy new stadium. To see their flashy new players. And to be a part of a cultural atmosphere in South Beach. The Heat may wear 'El Heat' on their jerseys some nights, but the Marlins were the main team reaching out to the Latino fans. They had Brazilian dancers escort players to the field on opening night for crying out loud.

The team had to act swiftly and put on the big production they did on Tuesday. Guillen should have known better, but the Marlins should have a Guillen Emergency Plan in a safe behind a painting of Ernesto Lecuona for all of the dust ups he will have in his time as Marlins skipper. I'm sure no one in the Marlins organization could imagine even Guillen could do this in such a short span of time, but now they know they're in the Ozzie Guillen business.